Siemens files lawsuit over the shipment of its turbines to Crimea

Wednesday, July 12, 2017 10:06:12 AM

The Siemens concern filed a lawsuit at the Moscow Arbitration Court regarding the shipment of its gas turbines to Crimea. The case file makes it apparent that the respondents in the case initiated on July 10 will be the companies Technopromexport PLC, Technopromexport LLC, and Siemens Gas Turbines Technologies LLC.

“A lawsuit has been filed. As we announced earlier in the statement, it will be directed against those who bear responsibility for this, and specifically against the management of Technopromexport. A lawsuit has been filed in Moscow,” Siemens’ press representative Wolfram Trost told TASS.

The court file notes that Siemens’ statement of claim also contains a petition for interim measures.

On July 5, Reuters announced that gas turbines produced by Siemens had been delivered to the power stations currently being constructed in Crimea, in the midst of the EU’s sanction regime. The company Technopromexport, a subsidiary of Russia’s Rostech concern, explained that the turbines were purchased on the secondary market and upgraded by Russian companies.

RBC previously reported, citing its sources that the disputed turbines were made at a joint venture factory belonging to Siemens and Power Machines in Saint Petersburg, but were subsequently rebuilt at Rostech’s factories. “The level of modernization is so high that the product can no longer bear the manufacturer’s name, it’s another project,” an RBC interlocutor close to a project participant assured.

On July 10 Siemens said that the turbines shipped to the Crimea were intended for the construction of power generation capacity in Krasnodar Krai, and were transferred to Crimea against the producer’s will.

“During the last few months, the buyer repeatedly assured us in writing that this equipment would not be shipped to the Crimea. As a result of what has happened, Siemens is initiating a legal prosecution against the entities responsible for this,” Siemens’ statement reads. The company also announced that it intends to file cases to “introduce a ban on any new shipments to Crimea” and to have the equipment which has already been shipped returned to Krasnodar Krai.

“There may also be a decision on the repurchase of the equipment. Siemens scrupulously observes all the requirements and restrictions according to the export control rules, and requires the same from its partners and clients,” the company’s announcement states. German Ambassador Rüdiger von Fritsch urged Russia to investigate the shipment of Siemens’ turbines to the Crimea in circumvention of the sanctions, and called it “a blow to investments” in the country, Interfax reported.

“If what happened is true, Siemens was seriously deceived, and it was a violation of the contract, a serious breach of trust and a very powerful blow to investments in Russia,” he said.

In response to a question on the German authorities’ investigation into the shipment of the turbines, the ambassador said that “It is the Russian authorities who must investigate this”.